


The Engineer || Jesse McCree x Male!Reader

by UlyssesWrites



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Bisexual, Blackwatch, Blood, Engineer - Freeform, Fighting, Fuckle I'm bad at shit, Gay, M/M, Multi, Overwatch - Freeform, Pain, Peacemaker, boop, old overwatch, straight - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-03-04 23:29:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13375338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UlyssesWrites/pseuds/UlyssesWrites
Summary: Overwatch HQ took a massive hit to their defenses after Talon hacked them and tried to download many personal files. It's been a few months after the recall, and they needed the security more than ever. Luckily, Jack has been in contact with engineer (Full Name) from the multi-billionaire Welsh company known as the Vault, and he's agreed to donate time and money to help rebuild Athena.Jesse McCree has taken interest in the engineer, must to his dislike. He knew not ot get his hopes up with the rich male-- God's knows how long his visit will be. Despite his constant nagging at himself, he's willing to see how far the two get.Maybe he'll get lucky and give the engineer a reason to stay?





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this is shitty and/or short. I've been wanting to write about Jesse, and my friend finally gave me the willpower to do so. Hope you all enjoy this!

_ Fandom - Overwatch _

_ Overwatch © Jeff Kaplan / Blizzard _

* * *

 

Jesse McCree was sipping an Americano coffee in a small cafe in America. His eyes were focused on something outside the bay window of the cafe, across the street, sitting on the fountain edge. The person had mohawked, red hair, a black, well-worn leather jacket, black trousers, and combat boots. Piercings the size of a water bottle cap were in his ears, along with spiked hoops on the shell on his ear, along with T-rex bites. His skin was tanned, and eyes were sunken into his skull.

_”You have a visual, McCree?"_ His comm spoke in his ear, the voice easily recognizable as Agent Jack ‘Soldier 76’ Morrison.

“Yeah. Copy that.” Jesse replied into his coffee, the target sitting with his ankles crossed, a black suitcase with metal lining and designs on the case, and a electronic lock. “No one’s approached him yet.”

_”I think I see the buyer, six o’clock, McCree.”_ Genji’s voice perked up, Jesse checking to see someone approach.

The team got intel of a high-end weapon deal going on, and there was hubbub that Talon was the one who was getting the weapons. They sent a small team to check it out-- Genji, Soldier 76, McCree, and Lucio. Currently, Genji was on the roof of an adjacent building from McCree, watching the potential buyer and the seller from a good advantage point. Lucio was blending in with the crowd, pretending to be on his cell while bundled up in a blue pullover hoodie and his skates on a bench behind the fountain. Jack was in a pickup truck that was parked a few feet up the street, pulse rifle on the seat next to him covered by laundry. The buyer, who wore a shirt with fish skeletons on it, round sunglasses, a shaved head, blue, rolled up jeans and brown loafers sat next to the seller.

_”You got the stuff?”_ Jesse could hear the buyer asked his seller over the audio recorder Lucio planted near him and the seller. The seller, whose alias was Fishbones, asked Rooster, who opened the case for Fishbones. Lucio having the perfect view to see what the case contained-- it looked like a thicker, more extreme Luger pistol. It was black with orange accented glows on it, with a devious gleam to it almost. It was easy to see that it could tear someone apart. There were small exhaust pipes on the sides of the gun-- God’s knows what their purpose was.

_ ”Bought it from a high-end company. I paid a lot for this." _ Rooster held the gun in his hands, showing it to Fishbones.

_It’s so small Rooster! You said you’d get me a weapon with serious firepower! This looks like a child’s toy!”_ Fishbones complained as McCree looked around to see if anyone noticed the small scrap between the two, but it was pretty late in the day, so everyone was working.

_”You don’t know the potential of this beaut. I watched them do a test-fire on it. The bullet lets out shrapnels that can pierce through armour. This thing is made to kill. I bet this could easy fry omnics.”_ Rooster told Fishbones, putting the gun back in the case locking it. The two argued back and forth a bit, the argument ending with the two exchanging the money and case, the two walking off in different directions.

Fishbones didn’t get far-- a ringing shot fired through the sky, Fishbones dropping dead to the ground to a sniper shot to the head. Rooster was pulled down to cover with Lucio, who had his Sonic Amplifier out. People who were in the street ran like chickens without heads. McCree told the people of the cafe to take cover while he ran out to direct people to safety, firing Peacemaker in the direction Widowmaker took out the buyer, watching her run away from her ledge on the building’s roof.

“I’ll chase Widow! Secure the weapon!” Genji was already chasing after the sniper. 

“Lucio! Secure the civilians!” Jack jumped out of his truck, McCree running and checking the pulse of Fishbones, before grabbing the case.

He rolled out of the way as he heard shotgun rounds fire. It was hard to not know who was attacking-- Reaper was trying to gun down McCree. He dropped the case while avoiding gunfire, watching Reaper shoot off the lock and grabbing the Luger, as McCree unloaded gunfire on Reaper. The two fired back and forth between one another, Jesse landing a good shot on Reaper’s left shoulder and left breast, a curse of pain spilling out of the shotgunner and dropping the Luger, McCree dove for it once Jack started to fire at Reaper, making him retreat back for it. When Reaper saw he was outnumbered, he counted his loses and retreated, leaving behind the Luger. Lucio assessed his team’s injuries, Genji returning to the three once he lost sight of Widowmaker. The four of them waited for the local police force to take in Rooster, and the ambulance to whisk away Fishbone’s body, before they boarded their aircraft and took off to the skies. The gun was placed in a locked case once on the plane, the team taking their seats as their pilot flew them back to headquarters.

“What do you think is so important about the gun, that Talon would be involved?” Jesse asked.

“That’s why we’re bringing it back-- Winston’s gonna have to look into it.” Jack took off his tactical visor, his scarred face focused.

“They sure did risk a lot for this.” Lucio said, leaning in his chair. “Whatever this gun is, it must pack some serious firepower.”

Jesse tuned out the conversation, mumbling to Lucio to wake him up when they land. He tipped his hat over his eyes, crossed his arms, and fell asleep in the small chair.

 

X X X X X

 

“I did some research on that weapon you brought back from your most recent mission.” Winston started to tell the team during an early morning meeting, “it’s from a weapon manufacturing company called ‘The Vault’. It’s based in Wales, and they sell all over the world. They even sold weapons to troops fighting in the Omnic War.” Winston pulled up a hologram of what the facility looked like, then a photo of two people beside it, “these two are the Owners and CEO of the company. The founder is (Full Name)--” (Full Name) had <tone> skin, striking, <e/c> eyes, <style>, <colour> hair, and wore a white dress shirt with a dark grey vest, “His twin-sister, Hibiscus (Last Name), is a CEO and helps him run the company.” Hibiscus has green eyes, black, cascading hair, fair skin, and wore a black dress with a white collar. Both of their expressions were very neutral-- it was eerie almost.

“They look happy.” Jesse said. “These guys are pretty loaded; you’d think they’d be at least happy about it.”

“They need to smile, that’s for sure.” Lena said. “Looks like their faces might get stuck that way.”

“They kinda look like Hanzo.” Hana joked to Genji, thus making Genji laugh, making Hanzo glare down at his younger brother and the Korean tank.

“Alright, get back with the program, guys.” Ana voiced, the jokes halted, “(Name) agreed to help anyway he can. He made arrangements to pick up the weapon if we don’t want to possess it anymore. He’s flying down here in a week.”

“The (Family name)’s are incredibly wealthy. I’m surprised one of them are choosing to cut time from their schedule to come down here.” Hanzo said, crossing his arms. 

“Well, there’s a catch to all this.” Jack said, pulling up an email from (Name). “We have been in contact with (Name) for quite some time now, and he’s hand-delivering resources we agreed on-- weapons, building materials, and even some money.”

“When were you planning on telling us this?” Lucio asked.

“After our mission, but being attacked by Talon really put a hole in our defenses. Athena was hacked, so we’ve been on that. I apologize.”

“It’s alright, Jack. You’re trying your best.” Torbjörn assured him, Reinhardt agreeing in an uproaring tone.

“I agree with Torbjörn! It’s great that this fellow is donating his money and resources too!” He boomed.

“Yeah. We really need the money.” Angela said in her airy, angelic voice.”  “We’re running low on medical supplies, and we need to upgrade our security.”

“He can help us with that, that’s for sure.” Winston assured. “Unless there’s something you want to add, this meeting is dismissed. I need Lucio to stick behind.” Everyone left the room, Jesse watching Lucio approach Jack and Winston, before the door closed to cut off his view.

 

X X X X X

 

Lucio shipped out with Winston, Ana, and Angela in their own ship, assumingly to pick up the Welshman. The entire thing was weird to Jesse, and he wasn’t alone.

“Why Lu?” Hana asked Jesse while playing a game in her bedroom.

“Not sure.” Jesse said, playing the game with her, smirking when he killed her.

“Maybe it’s because he’s young? They want someone his age?”

“It’s probably because Lucio is one of the friendliest bastards on this team. He might warm up to him faster than the rest of us.” Jesse suggested, enjoying Hana’s groans of anger. 

“Maybe, that’s smart.” Hana said, before Athena started up her siren.

**“I just received intel that Winston’s team is under attack.”** She voiced, Hana and Jesse jumping up. They ran to Athena’s control room, seeing the video feed from Winston’s camera. Jack was already in the room, yelling commands to the team about protecting (Name). The two were quickly joined by Lena, Reinhardt, and Mei.

“How’d they find out?” Mei asked, hearing someone shout in pain, clenching her fists.

“We have to send someone out to help!” Jesse shouted.

“We can’t! We can’t risk anyone else!”

“So we’re gonna leave them?!” Hanzo and Genji entered the room. 

“They’re tough, they can handle it.” Jesse didn’t like the idea of leaving them be, but what could they do? 

Jesse watched as (Name), who had the Luger, fire it at the Talon henchmen. He was appalled at the facial expression and the steadiness of his hand. The gun tore apart the enemies, leaving them for dead quickly. Ducking behind a wall with Angela, he reloaded, before holding a decahedron-shaped object, pressing a button on it to flash purple, throwing it at the haggle of Talon men. The explosion let out a gas, blinding the men, which allowed Ana to take them down quickly and efficiently. Winston was yelling for them to board the plane, which they did quickly. The video feed cuts off with Angela checking a bleeding wound on (Name)’s arm.

“Holy shit.” Someone said in a whisper.

“Now I get why Talon wanted the pistol. See how quickly it took them out?” Jesse mumbled.

“Prepare the medbay.” Jack said, Mei and Hana nodding to do so, “how the hell did they find out, Athena?”

**“It must’ve been from the security breach a week ago. Do you want me to run a diagnostic test?”** Athena’s robotic voice asked.

“Yes. Do whatever is needed.” Jack messed with his white hair, sitting in the chair near Athena’s monitors.

It didn’t take long for Winston’s team to arrive. Immediately, (Name) and Lucio were whisked to the medbay. Ana met with Jack to debrief how it went, and Winston went to work with Athena. Jesse saw Angela run to the medbay, throwing on her labcoat. He tried to stop her to ask what exactly happened, but she disappeared behind the doors before he could. The rest of the team waited for them to be told if the mission was a success, Reinhardt, Genji, and Hanzo put up with the task of unloading the helicarrier’s cargo. 

The team finds out that the two currently locked away in the medbay took some damage from the shootout, but they were on the road to full recovery in a few days. (Name) took a nasty slug to the upper arm, which was treated immediately and wrapped, sending him out of the medbay. Jack called for a meeting, wanting to introduce (Name) to the team. Everyone met in the conference room, where (Name) was cleaning the Luger while sitting on one corner of the table whilst talking to Lucio and Ana. Winston was setting up a hologram to the left of the trio, and Jack was nowhere to be seen.

“Everyone here?” Winston called, the team agreeing, (Name) holstering the Luger. “This is (Full Name). He’s agreed to donate many resources and time to help us.” 

“Hello. As your comrade said, I’m (Full Name). (Name)’ll do just fine. I’m the Owner and CEO of The Vault. We produce high-end weapons, mostly for war effort, I also work with robotics, along with coding and computer work. I hope my presence is welcomed here; I promise to not get in the way.” His accent was thick.

“Question.” Hana voiced up.

“Yes?”

“Do you smile?” (Name) let out a small chuckle.

“Yeah, I smile.” He smiled at that, “yeah, my ID photo is drab and boring.” 

“Any other questions for (Name). That are relevant?” Winston asked, everyone staying silent. “I could assume you’re exhausted from your scrap, so Lucio’ll here will show you to your living quarters.”

“Your personal effects were already delivered to your room.” Lucio told (Name) as the two walked out, the others doing the same.

“He can smile, John Wayne!” Hana cheered beside Jesse.

“Yes, so I’ve seen.” Jesse smiled at her innocent excitement, walking down the hall to his own room. 

“What do you think he likes to eat?” She asked, following right beside him.

“I don’t know, ask him. You know just as much as I do.”

“You think he has any tattoos?” She ignored Jesse, “what about pets? Think he has a wife? Or maybe a husband? What if he has both?”

“Hana.” Jesse stopped her, holding her by her shoulders, “stop asking me all this shit and ask him later at dinner.” He said, Hana staying silent until he pulled out a cigarillo and lit one end, pulling it to his lips and inhaling the tobacco’s smoke. Her nose crinkled up at the smell of the tobacco.

“Sorry. I’m just really excited. It’s been a while since we had anyone new join the team.”

“Woah there. He’s only here to help by donating weapons. I don’t think he’s staying to fight.”

“Bummer. We need someone with his skill. Can’t be helped.” Hana shrugged, “I’m gonna finish my game. Peace.” Hana walked down the hall to her room, Jesse taking a left to where his room was, seeing Lucio talk to (Name) in the doorway across from his room. Jesse giving him a wave, (Name) excused himself and retreated into his room, the door locking behind him. 

“Don’t worry. Just because he messes with robots doesn’t mean he’s a loud neighbor.” Lucio smiled to Jesse.

“Heard the guy got shot. How’s he doing?”

“Oh. Yeah, he doesn’t seem to care, actually. He, uh, actually got shot from protecting me. He and I were talking, when we sensed the ambush. They started firing, and he pulled me behind him and started to fire at the Talon guys. I feel like shit for it, but he doesn’t seem to care like I said.” Lucio explained.

“How was he, as in like a fighter?”

“He’s a good shot. Might even rival you and your gunslinging.” Lucio shot a pretend gun with a finger gun. “It seemed natural for him. Who would’ve thought?”

“Well, leave it to me to decide if he’s a worthy rival.” He joked, biting the end of his cigarillo. “Were you hit at all during the crossfire?”

“No, I think (Name) was the only one injured.”

“At least it was only one injury.” Jesse muttered, “well, I’m tired as shit. See you at dinner.” McCree walked past him to enter his room, tapping his ash in the ashtray on his dresser.

Sitting down on his bed, he finally let himself think about how attractive (Name) was in person. Jesse always knew he wasn’t completely straight-- learned that fact during Overwatch’s younger days. When he first saw the Welshman, he admitted that he was attractive, but pictures could never do the right justice. When (Name) laughed at Hana’s question, his heart fluttered like butterflies were trapped in his chest. The smile tied the entire experience together with one, neat bow. Massaging his temples, he forced the thoughts down and out of his mind, reminding him that he wouldn’t be staying long anyway. He decided to clear his mind by cleaning Peacemaker. 

Before he knew it, it was dinner. He finished with Peacemaker, leaving his room. He knocked on the door of the Welshman with his knuckle, the door opening at the contact. (Name) was sitting on the floor with a laser in his hand, protective goggles, and holding the decahedron grenade from earlier. He wore a muscle top with a wrap on his upper left arm. He didn’t seem to notice the presence in the room, until McCree coughed into his fist. Turning off his laser pen and letting it go, the chord that came from the end pulled it back into a machine that was across the room. He pushed his hair back with his goggles, looking at Jesse. He blinked, his eyes not adjusting to the light very well at first, before he looked up at Jesse.

“Need something?” He asked, setting the grenade on his worktable.

“Dinner is on now, if you want to come down and eat with the rest of us.” (Name) nodded.

“I might be down. Thank you.” He said, Jesse nodding and leaving the room.

(Name) never did some down to dinner, though. 

He sat in his room and worked the night away. He messed with modifying his grenades, worked in his surveillance drones, he drew up some plans for a mountable turret. He couldn’t get tired at all for some reason, and it was probably because of the throbbing pain he felt in his arm. Curse those Talon fucks. He talked to his sister for a bit, checking up on her and the staff a bit. Mostly (Name) drew up designs and worked on his own, personal projects. Morning came slowly, (Name) using his personal bathroom to shower to wash away any drowsiness he might’ve felt. Adventuring down the hall to where the team would relax, the sofas and loveseats were empty. There was noise coming from the kitchen, so he went there next, watching Angela talk to the large German from last night’s meet. They were conversing over the coffee machine, waiting for it to brew, sharing smiles and laughs.  

“Oh, good morning (Name).” Angela greeted, wearing a yellow long-sleeved tee and black yoga pants. Reinhardt wore a grey muscletop and sweats.

“Morning! I took it that you slept well!”

“Nah, actually.” He told, rubbing under his eye. 

“Is it your bullet wound?”

“Somewhat.” He told the motherly Angela, who poured her coffee.

“I have some painkillers that’ll help you. I can get them now if you want me to.” The Welshman shook his head.

“It’s fine. Been through worse. Enjoy your coffee.”

“Do you not want any?” Reinhardt asked.

“Not a coffee guy, sorry.” (Name) said, gently squeezing the gauze wrap on his arm, “thank you, though.”

“It’s nothing! After this, I usually start on breakfast, so don’t go too far!” The German joked, drinking out of his large coffee mug. (Name) only nodded, leaving the room to only be stopped by Jack and Jesse, who were engaged in a riveting conversation.

“Mornin’.” (Name) nodded to the two gentlemen, “I can start on improving security measures whenever, Jack.”

“Start after breakfast, then.” He said, before excusing himself to grab the coffee before Angela took it all.

“You didn’t come to dinner last night.” Was the first thing from Jesse’s mouth.

“Caught up in working.” There was a hint of drowsiness in his voice; Jesse could pick it out.

“Yeah, dinner rolls around at 1830. On days before missions, it’s earlier.” He informed the other, who nodded.

“Thanks for that.” (Name) awkwardly slipped by, being a god-awful talker. He normally was, but not to this extent. 

Jesse clicked his tongue when the other started to walk away. He spotted the three hounding the coffee maker looking at him. He raised an eyebrow at them, and they went back to doing what they were earlier, Reinhardt putting on his apron and starting on breakfast.

“Shouldn’t the others be coming back from their rendezvous?” Angela asked Jack.

“Yeah, excited to see your woman again?”

“S-She isn’t my woman…” Angela stuttered, making Jack laugh.

“Yeah, and I’m not old.” Jack and Reinhardt both laughed.

“They’ve been gone for almost a month now, haven’t they? I bet they’ll be relieved to be back.” Jesse spoke up, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs.

“Yeah, I bet.” Jack rumbled out, finishing his coffee.

 

X X X X X

 

(Name) actually did have breakfast with the other heroes. The breakfast was wurst, eggs, and french toast. Most people at the table either had coffee, tea, or orange juice. Jesse noticed that the only one (Name) would talk to was Jack, Ana, Angela, or Lucio. Either than that, he would ignore them in one of the most elegant ways he’s ever witnessed. 

He would ask for tips later. 

When everyone started to leave, (Name) took no time to waste chugging back to his room. He exchanged a few words with Jack before his retreat, but they were very brief. Jesse saw (Name) again in Athena’s control room with his back to him, wearing a white coat with small studs on the back that reached a few inches before the middle of his back. A sleeve was rolled up to his elbow, and the other sleeve was cut off. He then turned to the side, where he could see the black drop crotch pants with rips on the knees, and dark green high-top sneakers. The shirt he wore was a opened, black flannel with a tee with a vintage light bulb on it. He had a metal skeleton cuff bracelet in his hand, that extended back to his mid forearm on his left hand. Putting it on, it changed to fit him like a robotic glove, with yellow and orange accents on it. He was using Athena’s keyboard with the black skeleton glove, coding something.

_’Left handed…’_ Jesse thought, until he used a hologram on the right of him using his right hand to enter in another code, _’ambidextrous, maybe?’_

“Need something?” He asked in a gruff tone, not looking away from his work, plugging in a black USB in Athena’s USB port.

“Nah, figured ya might wanted some company.” Jesse drawled out, sitting in one of the many chairs in the room, “The name's Jesse McCree."

"(Full Name)." He smiled at the southern accent the male had.

"So how’s your arm?” Jesse asked.  


“It’s fine. Dr. Zeigler gave me some painkillers that numb the pain.” (Name) said, pressing a few more keys before standing back, letting his security software be installed by Athena. He sat in the chair beside McCree’s, crossing his leg over his knee.

“What’s it like in Wales?” Jesse asked.

“Out of all the countries, Wales has changed the less. It’s one of the few who still resemble the country it was before the war. The omnic population there is very friendly, and the people are decent.” He explained, fixing the lace of his shoe. 

“That’s cool.” Jesse said, “I like how the omnics were described better than the people.” 

“Yeah.” (Name) had a small, crooked smile, “I talk to the omnics more than the actual people. I just; humans frustrate me easily, I guess.” He shrugged, letting out a wide-mouthed yawn, before pushing his <colour> hair back.

“So, what’s Athena doing right now?”

“I brought a copy of the security system my place uses and told Athena to install the software. I was told to design some more security measures, like mountable turrets, better cameras; all that complicated shit.” He said, tilting the chair back on its back two legs, pulling up his orange, hologram keyboard and accessing his data archives. He pulled up messages between him and his sister, Jesse not recognizing the language the two were using, so he assumed it was Welsh.

The two fell silent again, though it wasn’t awkward. (Name) was focused on his work, working with Athena to fix the security camera feeds, since they were damaged and glitchy. Jesse watched in admiration and fascination, he never saw anyone work like he does. He wore a focused look, hovering over Athena’s control center, entering more codes and messing with files. Some time during the silence, Lucio skated into the room, surprised to see the Honky Tonky Daddy known as Jesse McCree in the room with the serious (Name). Lucio had in his hand some tea he offered to bring to the robotics specialist. Knocking on the doorway, Jesse turned around to see the short Brazilian, taking this as a sign that he overstayed his visit with the Welshman. He got up with a groan, seeing (Name) pause his work to thank Lucio and pluck up the warm mug from his hands, thanking him and indulging in the warmth and taste of the tea. 

“McCree.” (Name) called, making the cowboy turn to face him, “you ever need help with your prosthetic, come to me.” He more of demanded than suggested.

“Will do, doc.” He tipped his hat and spun on his heels, his spurs gently singing as he walked out of the room. 

Hana was suddenly glued to his side again, making the older male huff. She had excitable eyes, and he already felt like he knew what she was about to say. He let her ramble on about questions she’s decided to ask the male when he finally joins them for dinner. She even made a list for her to follow. Hana was cut off by Athena telling everyone in the base that Fareeha’s team had returned from their month long excursion. Everyone filed to the landing pad, watching the aircraft lower to the ground, the wind blowing around dust and leaves. Everyone covered their eyes, not wanting the dust in their face. Lucio used his Sonic Amplifier to play a song he played whenever they were victorious, filling everyone with high energy and triumph. When the helicarrier lowered its ramp, the insane Junkrat jumped out of the plane and whooped a victory scream, the others joining in the chorus. He was cut off by Roadhog smacking the back of his head. Satya stepped off the ramp next, hiding a laugh behind her hand at Mako’s discipline. Zarya, Zenyatta, and Fareeha were the last to unboard the plane, the cargo ramp pulling close, and the plane flying back to the landing strip. Immediately, the returning team were bombarded with hugs from their friends, Hana and Lucio squeezing the life out of Jamison, Fareeha hugging her mother and Angela, Zenyatta and Genji chattering excitedly, and Zarya and Mei exchanged hugs and kisses. Jesse was giving a noogie to Fareeha, when he saw in the background a (Name) with his arms crossed, leaning against a wall. He almost blended in with the metal wall; he seemed neutral about the entire event, which was understandable. Jack walked to him and they exchanged some words, before the two walked back into Headquarters together, making Jesse raise a questioning eyebrow. 

After Reinhardt was able to fit the returning team in one hug, he booed how he would make a feat tonight to celebrate the return and the victory they earned, everyone agreeing with a hearty cheer. The chatter between everyone hadn’t died; everyone was in the lounge of the base, sitting on the sofas and laughing. Even Hanzo, the biggest tool, was being a good sport and celebrating with the others.  (Name) was busy working with fixing Athena’s damaged systems during the small party being held in the lounge at that time. He sat on his stomach, messing with some damaged wires, replacing them or welding them back together. He didn’t want to impede on the joyous reunion in the lounge, so he continued to work like he came here to do. He’d admit that he wanted to at least congratulate them, but he felt out of place. (Name) decided to just keep blending in with the backdrop and get the work done, and play later.

**”You are being called by Agent Lucio in the lounge, Mr. (Last Name).”** Athena’s voice said, making the male roll over on his back and sit up. 

“Are you almost done with the security improvements?”

**”Yes. They will be finished in seven minutes.”**

“Keep at it then.” He left the room and followed the happy chatter where Lucio called for him.

“They had us all surrounded, so I loaded gun and went BAM!” RIght when (Name) entered the room, a fist collided with his nose.

“Fuck!” He reeled back, holding his now-bleeding nose.

“Oh, bloody hell I am so sorry mate.” An Australian voice came to (Name)s ears.

“It’s alright.” He looked up, seeing his blood on a lanky Australian’s metal knuckles. The male was hunched over and tanned, some of his hair was burned, and he wore green shorts. He had two orange prosthetics; one on his right leg, and a peg-leg on his right leg. 

Angela was by his side in an instant, checking to see it was broken at all as fresh blood trickled down his face and onto the white floor. The Welshman pulled away, holding his nose and making it stop bleeding. Everyone in the room paused to see if the stranger was alright. When he was confirmed alright, festivities continued. Lucio led Hana over, along with Junkrat and Roadhog when (Name) dismissed Angela so she could spend time with the one in the blue armoured suit. There was blood stained on his nostril and above his cupid’s bow, Lucio pointed out, making (Name) lick his thumb and wipe the area clean. 

“You alright man?” Lucio asked.

“Yeah, just surprised.” (Name) answered, rubbing his middle finger up and down his nose.”So, you two were the first off the plane, congrats on the victory.” (Name) held hands out to the Australian and the male with a pig mask on his head, since he took it off.

“Thanks mate. Sorry for suckerpunchin’ yer nose. I’m Junkrat, though Jamison is foine, I guess.” They shook hands.

“Roadhog. Or Mako.” Mako shook (Name)’s hand next.

"I'm Hana Song!" Hana greeted, (Name) shaking her hand next, "I was going ot greet you yesterday, but you seemed awful tired from last night's scrap with Talon, so I let you be."

"Yesterday was hell, I'll admit. I survived though." The engineer smirked.

“Aren’t you loike, a billionaire? What’re you doin’ here shakin’ hands with criminals?”

“I’m helping Dr. Winston repair Athena’s systems.” (Name) told the thief.

“How’s it going?” Hana asked, making (Name) look at the cute Korean female.

“She’s taken a massive hit, but she’s getting there. Athena’s systems weren’t as bad as they should be theoretically. With the damage she’s taken, she shouldn’t even be running.” (Name) described, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his coat. 

“Is she doing better?” She asked.

“Yeah, though it’s a slow process. She’ll be back to normal hopefully by the end of the week.” (Name) predicted. 

“That’s good! Thank you for all the help!” She gave him a side hug, the male patting her on the head. She didn’t hold him for long, backing up and holding her hands in front of her.

“It’s nothing. The world needs Overwatch more than other. I want to help anyway I can.”

“Have you ever thought about joining Overwatch?”

“Yes, actually.” It surprised the four around him, “my sister could definitely run the Vault without me, she’s very intelligent and strong. She could kick my ass.” He joked with the smallest of smiles, “I just feel there isn’t a place for me. Yeah, I work great on a battlefield, I have a pretty good trigger finger. I work better with robotics and engineering.” He explained, “if I was truly needed on the team, and Hibiscus agreed to it, I would join in a heartbeat. I just don’t want to ditch my sister and my company.”

“Hey man, I get it. Família is important.” Lucio said.

The black skeleton on his left hand displayed a hologram, (Name) looking at it and excusing himself from the four’s company and went back to working on Athena, since the security installments were finished. He checked on the security, playing with the locks on certain doors, checking the cameras, seeing that there was still some cameras down, and the protective forcefield that’s supposed to surround the base is still damaged. The comms needed repairs and their hardware needed updated too. This wouldn’t take only a week, this would be a long project.

He decided to do a perimeter check to see what else was needing to be done. He checked the camera feeds using his skeleton arm’s hologram, marking which ones needed working on. (Name) passed by Zenyatta and Genji, who were meditating on one of the walls. He didn’t disturb them as he messed with the camera on the corner near the two, marking that it needed to be repaired manually. It looked like something pierced through the lens, like a knife. He tapped a foot at it, wanting to ask the two sitting a few feet away, but he didn’t.

“You’re confused.” He looked back to see the two looking at him.

“Yeah. It appears someone threw a knife, or another instrument with a short, sharp tip.” 

“That might’ve been from my brother, Hanzo. He might’ve had a lone arrow from his scatter shot hit the camera during fight simulations.” Genji explained, jumping off the wall and standing next to the engineer. (Nam) listened to the vents of Genji’s body, hearing a rumble that shouldn’t be there. 

“You’re making a strange noise. Are your vents damaged?” He asked, circling the green accented ninja.

“I’m afraid so. We haven’t had the resources to repair them.” Genji admitted, (Name) nodding and looking at the cyborg ninja’s body and nodding to himself, before backing up to look up and down the cyborg in entirety.

“I could look at your systems, later. Just come to the lab downstairs that’s hooked up for me.” (Name) explained.

“Thank you, I will take you up on that offer.” Genji said, (Name) nodding to the two and walking from the scene.


	2. Making Friends Is Harder As An Adult

Throwing his head back with a groan, Jesse looked to the ceiling for entertainment. He was extremely bored, and he didn't know what to do. The gunslinger was surprised, he hadn’t seen the engineer Overwatch hired yesterday at all that day, wondering where he had gotten himself into. He knew he was up all night; he could hear the sound of lasers cutting into metals, and what sounded like him smacking metal pieces against one another late at night. He already spent an hour and a half in the range, tearing apart the already-crumbling targets Torbjörn made ages ago. They were dingy and dented, with some rust on the heads of the robots and the body of the training dummies. They’ve definitely seen better days, nearly exhausted entirely of their lifespans. If they were going to win a war against Talon, and any other organization against Overwatch, they would need better equipment. Maybe he’d slip that info in to the cute engineer that’s currently working his ass off somewhere.

_’I’m a fucking genius.’_ Jesse thought to himself as Hanzo passed through the lounge with a bag.

“Hey Hanz, what’re you doing with all that?” Jesse asked, springing off the couch.

“I’m giving it to the engineer, as a welcoming gift. Do you know where he currently is?” Hanzo asked, moving the bag away from the snooping eyes of the cowboy.

“I saw him early this morning, but other than that, haven’t seen the guy. I’ll help you look for him.” The archer couldn’t even muster out a ‘no’, before he was leading Hanzo down the hall. “So, you know anything about this guy?”

“Why would I?” Hanzo asked with a quizzical eyebrow.

“Well, he’s rich. You’re rich.” He led on.

Hanzo scoffed, “my family’s wealth has nothing to do with me.”

“Do you or do you not know anything about him?”

“He’s from Wales, is 38 years old, graduated the top of his class with a engineering and maths degree, has four tattoos, has two personal assistants, has three middle names, two dads, is allergic to avocados, and got attacked by a lion when he was ten.”

“How the fuck do you know this, though?” McCree asked in fascination.

“Us Shimada’s keep our secrets.” Hanzo smirked when Jesse couldn’t see, enjoying how his jaw dropped. Jesse quickly caught up with the archer, wagging his finger at the other.

“So, what’s in the bag?”

“Why would I tell you that?”

“Oh come on! We’re friends! Friends tell friends what they got other people.”

“That literally makes no sense, McCree.” He said pointedly.

“Just tell me what’s in the fucking bag.”

“So crude.” Hanzo complained.

“I last saw him in here.” Jesse opened the door to Athena’s control room, no one inside.

“Where could he be now?”

“Maybe Winston knows-- Hey Lena!” Lena was about to go down the hall when McCree spotted her.

“Hi Jesse!” The Brit blinked beside the two men, ”what can I do for ya?”

“You’ve seen the Welshman?” Jesse asked.

“Hmm. Actually, yeah I did. I saw him last working in the fight simulation room, he was messing with something in there.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Eh, maybe ten minutes ago. I’d hurry! That bugger is a fast one!”

“Thanks, Lena.” Jesse smiled, before him and Hanzo left to go to the simulation building.

“I know where he is now, you don’t need to accompany me anymore.”

“Yeah, well I have something to tell him. Some suggestions on what needs to be fixed around here.” Jesse said.

“Hmph, I guess you can walk with me.”

“I wouldn't’ve taken ‘no’ for an answer.” He smiled coyly, Hanzo shaking his head in disbelief with an eye roll.

The pair fell silent during the walk. There were some orange markers on the exterior of the building-- assuming that they were (Name)’s work. The building’s doors were open, seeing the robot dummies scattered all over the place with their chests open, (Name) hunched over one of them checking out the wiring inside them. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, not looking very pleased with the handiwork. Slapping the robot’s chest closed, he sat up and looked around the room more, his eyes finally falling on the two agents at the door.

“What can I do ya for?” (Name) asked.

“I was just about to tell you how shitty our dummies were.” Jesse joked, the look of concentration still etched into the male’s features.

“I brought a small gift, as a welcome to our headquarters.” Hanzo stepped forward and placed the bag in the engineer’s hands, him sifting through the contents. There were sweets and cakes, making the male smile.

“Thank you for this… Mr…?” (Name) hoped the Japanese man would finish his sentence.

“Mr. Left Tiddy.” Jesse smacked his hand over Hanzo’s bare breast, making Hanzo practically jump out of his skin.

“McCree!” Hanzo smacked away Jesse’s hand, Jesse cackling like a madman as he stepped away from the male.

(Name) looked at the two in confusion as he decided to set the bag down next to his toolbox and continue working while the two males worked out their drama. (Name) shrugged, sifting through the contents of the bag while his skeleton glove extended onto his arm, displaying some holograms as a metal wire extended out of his arm equipment. Connecting the wire to the robot, he looked at the software and coding the practice robots were programmed with. The two argued a bit, before they halted and faced (Name) again, who unwrapped one of the matcha tea cakes and was currently treating himself to the sugar. Swallowing the bite he recently took, he wrapped it back up and set it back in the bag.

“Hanzo Shimada.” Hanzo greeted, Hanzo bowing, (Name) mimicking the action, the arch of his back perfect.

“You practice bowing?” Asked Hanzo.

“I like to be familiar with as many customs as I can.” He smiled, “I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“None at all. You act like a proper adult.” He said, his dagger-sharp voice piercing through McCree as he watched the exchange.

“You’re bein’ rude, Hanzo. What did I say about playing nice?”

“I will kill you.” He threatened as (Name) wore a small, crooked smile.

“Thank you for this, Hanzo.” He spoke up before he could lunge at the American.

“You’re welcome. I hope your time here is a good one.” He bowed and excused himself, walking away from (Name) and Jesse.

_’Alone again…’_ Jesse thought as (Name) finished up the cake from earlier quickly, tapping the back of his skeleton glove with two fingers twice, making the glove dismantle to the black skeleton ring bracelet, that proceeded to fold into a small cube that he pocketed. (Name) flexed out his left hand, massaging his knuckles.

“So, how’s the work been?” Jesse asked, (Name) looking at the other.

“Been good. I did a scan of the perimeter, checked out some blind-spots that Athena had, and lots of broken or shitty cameras that need work. I’m surprised you guys are infiltrated; there are so many holes in security.” (Name) put his hands on his hips.

“Woah there, don’t jinx us now.”

“Sorry.” He replied, grabbing his toolbox and bag after setting the robots aside, “there isn’t much to salvage from these fellas. Better to start anew.” He told Jesse, smacking the robot on the chest.

“They that bad?” Jesse thought the equipment they owned was pretty good, but maybe he was use to owning crummy, beaten up hand-me-downs. He rubbed the nape of his neck, looking at (Name), who stood up and checked his cellphone.

“I've seen worst. You guys obviously give them hard love.” He flexed his knee, before he pulled an orange disk from his pocket and throwing it up in the air. The disk stopped in the air and started to hover, and grew six, small legs. It looked almost like a spider, running around the room and scanning the area with a yellow glow. It made small noises, Jesse narrowing his eyes at it.

“What the fuck is that?” He pointed an accusing finger at it.

“That's my little son- robot. I call them SPYDR's. They scan a room to render up a model I can access in my data archive. I have them scattered around taking data for me.” (Name) explained as a pair of wings extended out, the small robot flying upwards. It started to scan the walls up to the ceiling, it bumping into Jesse’s hat and knocking it off his head. (Name) dove for the hat, Jesse scooping the robot up before it could hit the ground.

“Woah there, man down.” Jesse rumbled out, the small robot in his hand folding back up to the orange disk it was before.

“Sorry, they’re a bit dumb sometimes.” He handed the cowboy aesthetic his hat back, throwing the disk back up in the air for him to resume his scanning. “Thanks.”

“It was no problem, since you’re doing so much for us.” Jesse shifted his weight to one leg, dusting his hat and putting it back on. The small robot went back to work, flying above McCree’s hat this time around.

“It’s nothing. Like I said; this wasteland needs Overwatch more than ever.” (Name) watched as another small, flying robot flew to him and he caught it, legs and wings folding up. (Name) pocketed the small bot, checking his cellphone’s data archives, “I got a full model of the armoury.”

“These little shits are pretty intelligent, huh?”

“For the most part.” (Name) smiled, “I need to check with your audio medic, Lúcio. Do you know where he might be?”

“Probably in his room, I reckon.” McCree adjusted his belt, (Name)’s eyes darting to the gleam from the metal, before looking away to view his phone records. Jesse didn’t miss the short glance, though.

“Thanks. I can just ask Athena where his room is.” (Name) thanked Jesse for the company and left the simulation room.

Making his way back to the main hub of headquarters, he saw the pink haired Russian talking to the freezing-hero Mei Ling-Zhou pressed against her on the loveseat. They were talking happily between one another, eyes full of warmth and love for one another. (Name) didn’t want to bother them to confirm where the audio medic’s room was, so he only nodded to them and continued down the halls of the large HQ. He looked at the black, sleek watch on the inside of his wrist, tapping it to pull up the quarter-finished hologram map he was currently processing with the SPYDR. He looked at the 3D hologram being projected from his watch, looking up to find the correct room and knocking on the dorm. Swatting the hologram away, he tapped a foot, waiting for Lúcio to answer his door. Starting to get a little impatient, he knocked on the door again, a SPYDR flying to him. He held a hand out, like catching a baseball. It flew into his hand, him gently catching the robot and holding it to his chest as it returned to its disc form. Dropping it in the pocket of his overcoat, it combined with the first SPYDR in his pocket to make a cube. (Name) looked up from the downloading of the most recent scan to hear the door open, Lúcio surprised to see the other at the foot of his door. Pulling off the headphones he wore, he apologized about ten times over.

“Oh god, I didn’t know you were here already! I was mixing some new songs for our team! I went out to get some opinions for it, but since you’re here to help me fix some bugs in my systems, I don’t see why you can’t give me an opinion!”

“Sure. I don’t listen to music though, so my opinion may be a bit spotty.”

“You don’t listen to music?!” He exclaimed, like as if he was shot by the Welshman currently standing in front of him.

“I don’t have time for that stuff. I’m too busy making robots and running a company. I don’t have time for really anything.” (Name) rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, that’ll make your opinion even the more important!” Lúcio pulled the male into his room, (Name) looking at all the music-related technology around the room.

“If you say…” He mumbled whilst looking around the room, “you got some pretty nice equipment in here. I may not know a lot about music and sound, but I know a good piece of tech when I see it.” (Name) putzed around the room, looking at the soundboard he had that glowed purple in the accents.

“Thanks for the compliment! I like to take care of my things. I dropped some pretty pennies on these babies.” Lúcio smiled.

“It’s fine, I understand you want what’s best for both you and your team.” (Name) shared a small smile, “so, what’s this song you wanted me to listen to?”

“Oh, snap! I’ll hook that up real quick. I wasn’t sure if you really wanted to listen to it or not.”

“I don’t mind. I need to check your security anyway, and collaborate with you on some new systems before I bring it to Winston.” He sat down in a chair.

(Name) was handed some bulky headphones with Lúcio’s frog symbol engraved in the side. He gave them a look of hesitation, before putting them on. Instantly he is filled with a strong, thumping feeling in his heart, growing larger and larger with every second. The music was a powerful mix of dark synth and dubstep, filling (Name) with energy and pep. His bones vibrated with warmth, electricity sparking at his fingertips. Rolling out a pain he’s felt in his shoulder his entire day, he was surprised to the feeling of the soreness melting away from the music, plus his bullet wound’s throbbing pain faded. He’s heard of the healing properties in the music Lúcio produced, but he didn’t know the extent of how it worked. A warm smile crossed his face; Lúcio took the smile as an accomplishment as he watched (Name) roll out his shoulder, a yellow glow dancing around the injured shoulder and travel down to his upper arm. He was handed back the headphones after (Name) took them off, still rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder. He looked up at Lúcio, standing up from the seat he sunk himself into, stretching his back.

“I like it.” (Name) said simply, “it’s actually really good. That stubborn shoulder pain finally went away, thanks to your music. Thank you.”

“Hey man! It’s nothing! I’m real glad you liked it! I’ve been working on this one for a while. John Wayne thinks I should start mixing country in my soundtracks. As much as I love the guy…” He trailed off with a sigh, “I can’t bring myself to do it.”

He wasn’t expecting the chuckle that slipped out of the serious engineer, “I could understand the hesitation. There’d be no way someone could mix the twang of country and the deep bass of dubstep.” The male covered his laugh with the back of his hand.

“Twang? That is the best thing I’ve heard in a long ass time, my friend.” Lúcio laughed, “so, you liked it, right?”

“Yeah, I did.” (Name) calmed down finally, “could I look at those servers now?”

“Oh yeah, sure!”

 

X X X X X

 

(Name) groaned in pain as he pushed up the goggles from his eyes to look at some wires of a small robot he was tinkering with currently. He rubbed his eye, a line of soot streaking across his cheek. His hair was trapped in the goggles he pushed up from his eyes. He looked at the small robot in puzzlement, trying to study it to make it work. He found the small robot using the SPYDRS, locked away in a supply closet with almost two inches of dust accumulating on the boxes and cleaning supplies left in the closet. He had his legs crossed on the floor, metal parts littered in his lap. He scowled at the badly damaged wires, cooing at the robot that he’d treat him right whilst pulling out his rubber tweezers to pull out some of the wires. He adjusted the loupe over his right eye, flicking one of the lenses to increase the magnification to see a frayed wire better. The room itself was silent, the only sound heard was the clicking of his loupe when he changed magnification, the tweezers, and small sighs of disappointment. All around the room were orange holograms-- ones with SPYDR tracking, one with some blueprints of some standard models of robots he tried to compare with the small robot he found to no avail, one in colour with his company security camera footage up, and some other nonsense on his screens.

Looking up from his work, he listened to a knock on his door. Rolling his eyes back out of habit, he called out for them to open the door while he called for his SPYDR to use the extendable arm it was equipped with to grab the milk crate he put all the parts in, dumping them in in his own, orderly mess. He stood up and dusted himself off, seeing McCree at the door. Pulling off his gloves, he wore a smug smile.

“Wow, can’t get enough of me, huh, Cowboy?” He teased, a small wink being sent to the male while he dropped the gloves into the same crate the robot parts were in, gently setting the robot in with it.

“Can’t help it. The smell of oil and grease attracts me.” He shrugged, playing along like a good sport.

“Glad someone appreciates me.” He scoffed dramatically, “what can I do ya for?”

“Wait.” Jesse used the pad of his thumb to swipe away the soot line on his comrade’s face, “sorry, you seemed to had stained that pretty face of yours.”

“That happens often. I use dirt to cover the flaws.” (Name) joked, though was completely surprised by the gesture and forwardness. “As you were?”

“Oh yeah. It’s dinner. Yeah, it’s early, but some of us gotta head out early tomorrow for a mission.” That attracted the attention of the engineer.

“Oh, really? May I ask the details?” He had a larger-than-normal SPYDR land on his shoulder, a small electronic face smiling at McCree, before the display screen where its face was went to black.

“Can I ask why that fucker is so big real quick?”

“He’s like the Queen Bee, and all the small ones are his workers. All data is sent to him, then sent to me.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Jesse nodded, “all that’s important about the mission, is someone patched through to us some footage of Talon workers in their area, and we’re investigating.”

“Ah, well, best of luck to ya.”

“Thanks.”Jesse tipped his hat, “I’m not heading out, actually I was told to stay behind.”

“Reason?” He asked.

“To be with you.” Jesse paused, “I’m sorry that sounded really fucking wrong.” A blush blossomed on his cheeks, “wow, sorry.”

“Hey, it’s ’aight.” (Name) smirked, “why though? Not to be an ass, forewarning.”

“Jack sees that we’re getting along, so he decided that I should stay behind to make sure you’re comfortable here.” Jesse drabbled.

“Ah, I see.” He was indifferent.

“Are you OK with that? I can tell him to pull back his decision--”

“It’s fine. I actually like your company. Your constant talking fills the silence quite well. That also tells me, though, that you do not take to silence well.” Jesse suddenly felt weak and vulnerable.

“How’d you figure that out?”

“The longest time you were silent with me was approximately five minutes. After that time, you start bringing up an old story from your young Overwatch days.” (Name) dusted off his pants.

“Is it that bad?” Insecurity was hidden behind his words.

“Not really.” (Name) shrugged, “Hibi is just the same. I’m sorry, we went off our original conversation. Why’d you come to see me?”

“Oh, dinner. You coming down? I will say, Hana’s been annoying me all afternoon asking if you were going to join us finally.”

“I guess I have to please the people.” (Name) shrugged, “we should probably head down.”

“Yeah, it’s been ten minutes.” McCree checked the clock on (Name)’s wall.

“Whoops.” (Name) said with a flat tone, tapping the sleeping robot on his shoulder, the robot extending his small boosters and hovering next to (Name).

The two started to walk out of the room, (Name) not missing the smug look on Jamison’s face when he saw Jesse walking out of the room with the engineer, thinking up of many excuses for the situation. The SPYDR floated around, its emoting face returned as it scanned the walls, flying to a SPYDR that was scanning a wall and sucking it up in its storage tank. Jesse was surprised by the action, looking at (Name) for an explanation, but (Name) was neutral. Watching the bot hover back next to his creator, (Name) pulled up a hologram using his black glove, writing a message with his left hand on a small keyboard. The closer they got to the mess hall, the louder it got, listening to the happy chatter of the other members of the team while waiting for food to be served. Despite (Name) being on average terms with the team, some anxiety bubbled in his stomach at the thought of ruining their festivities. He didn’t have really any time to back out of the situation, since he was currently walking through the doorway of the dining room. There was a large table, with about seventeen people at the table, sitting and talking joyfully. Everyone looked up at the sound of Jesse’s boot spurs jingling gently, seeing the engineer finally decided to join them for a meal besides breakfast. The faces of Hana and Lúcio lit up brightly at the sight of him, Lúcio waving a hand over for him to take the seat next to him and Hana. Nodding to the two, he gave Jesse a lazy wave goodbye and took the seat between the two, Hana immediately leaning in and interlocking and folding her hands, elbows in the table as her chin resting on her folded hands. (Name), at first, tried to ignore the female, but the burning stare made him cave in.

“Is everything alright, Hana?” (Name) asked, the Korean perking up at the attention she finally received.

“Yeah. Hey, you mind if I ask you a few questions?” (Name) raised a quizzical eyebrow at the female.

“Depends. Are they personal?”

“Uhm…” She trailed off.

“Yeah, you can ask me some questions. I don’t care if they’re personal.” He grinned, Hana’s face lighting up in excitement.

“Really? Well, I only have three or four questions.” She clapped her hand, “OK, so what’s your favourite colour, favourite food, do you like hats, do you like knitting, cats or dogs, what’s your middle name, when did you start your company, when did you graduate college, are you married, are you seeing someone, do you prefer men or women, do you prefer both, do you like omnics, what’s your mom’s name, do you have any pets?--”

“That is a lot more than three to four questions.” He laughed, “but to answer the questions you have so far-- <f/c>, <fav food>, yes to hats, I like crochet, both, I have three middle names-- Urban Creed <middle name>, I started my company 25 years ago, graduated 22 years ago, not married, not seeing anyone, I prefer men, I have some omnics working for my company, so I think they’re pretty great, I don’t have a mum, but two dads, and I have a pet snake that was named Pickles by Hibi.”

“I’m surprised you remembered all those questions.” Jamison piped up beside Hana.

“I have a gift, what can I say, ah?” He cocked a crooked smile with a shrug.

“Wait, two dads?” Hana asked.

“Yeah, two. Macsen and Deegan.” (Name) said, “they’re pretty great. Macsen is my birth father. Never met my mum, but I don’t care honestly.”

“That’s kinda cool.” Hana said.

“Anything else?” (Name) asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Well, I have many more, but McCree said I shouldn’t bug you too much, or you might rip off my head.”

“He isn’t wrong. We’re gonna be with one another for a while, so you’ll have enough time to ask your questions. I will mention, that for two to three days, I’m gonna be working a shitton on security and Athena.”

“That’s alright! You should focus on your work. I don’t want to distract you.”

“Don’t worry, it’s hard to distract me from my work. My sister’s got stories about me apparently being stabbed in the back, but apparently I didn’t notice the knife jutting out of my back and continued assembling my babies-- my robots.” (Name) told, “I don’t remember being stabbed in the back, but I got a scar there to prove it.”

“Dinner is served!” Reinhardt and Torbjörn bursted out of the kitchen with platters of food, setting them out on the table.

Everyone was excited, practically drooling over the food, digging in greedily. (Name) was surprised by the energy buzzing around the table. (Name) waited for the carnage to end, before he got his own food and ate silently. He wasn’t big on talking at the dinner table, so he made sure he always had something in his mouth to keep himself from talking to anyone.  A small beam of orange light shot up from his skeleton glove, bringing (Name)’s attention to his cuff. His heart jumped a little at what was on his screen, double checking that he read it right, before he thought about what to do about his problem. He typed up a message using his left hand to type up a command code, sending it to his SPYDR. After the crisis was diverted, he continued to look through all his files ad camera feeds, even messaging his sister for a short while, though it was getting late for his sister, it being almost 11PM for her, while it was only a few minutes until 7 in America. He was always happy when speaking to his sister, so when it came time to say goodnight to her, he was always upset. After telling his dear sister goodnight, he continued to work on the software he was implementing into Athena. He was a bit startled when he heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, about all sets of eyes were looking at him in confusion, worry, and even betrayal. He was still typing, but it got slower, wondering why everyone was watching him.

“Yes?” He finally asked.

“Are you seriously working at the dinner table? This is a time of friendship and family! You don’t have to worry about your assignment!” Reinhardt boomed.

“Sorry, I’m used to eating in the same room I’m working in. I don’t really sit down to enjoy meals anymore.” He admitted.

“Well, that’s gonna change while you’re here.” Jesse said across the table, “we try to have as many meals together as we can, and that’ll include you.”

“If I can’t play games at the table, you can’t have your weird metal arm computer thingy!” Hana said stubbornly. (Name) looked at her in confusion.

“How does video games equate to working?”

“I bet you could play a game on it.”

“I can, but I don’t. It’s a waste of priceless, intelligent technology.” Hana looked downright offended.

“Hand it here. I’ll make sure it’s all nice and comfy.” (Name) looked at McCree, not breaking his gaze as he double-tapped a spot under his forearm, the supercomputer on his arm dismantling and forming a skeleton glove. It folded into a cube that he set in McCree’s hand.

“You try anything funny with it, I’ll feed you your still-beating heart after I rip it out of your chest.” (Name) said rather seriously, though it was hushed so only the cowboy could hear it.

“Got it, doc.” He said as he put the small cube in one of the utility pouches of his BAMF belt.

“So, how’s Athena doing?” Someone asked, bringing (Name)’s nightmare of speaking during dinner to life.

“Uh.” He froze, “well, she’s taking well to my security improvements, she’s got quite a lot of blindspots. I’m working on camera repair, but I need to find them all around the perimeter.” He pushed back his <h/c> hair and scratched his knuckles.

“That’s good. What else?” Lena asked. The engineer rubbed the nape of his neck.

“I’m working on some new combat practice bots for the training grounds, since yours are literally falling apart.”

“That’s because McCree likes to kick them when he’s angry.” Angela said.

“I do not!” He exclaimed.

“What about our situation about interior security, plus our quinjets? They’re pretty dingy.” Mei asked, (Name) pulling out his cellphone real quick and checking something.

“I don’t have anything in my notes about it, but now there is. Sorry, I was more concerned about someone storming in. I promise I’ll get right on it.” The phone was pocketed.

“Don’t stress too much on it. I wasn’t sure if I mentioned it early today.” She shrunk.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. It’s no trouble. They’re just as important as everything else.” (Name) confirmed.

“Ya got those weird lookin’ robots that can make rooms out of thin ‘air, roight?”

“They don’t actually conjure up rooms like magic, but I know what you’re talking about. Yes, what about them, Jamison?” (Name) folded one hand over his knuckles after he accidentally cut his knuckle.

“Could ya make a place where OI could make and  test me bombs without gettin’ shouted at?”

“I presume, wouldn’t be too hard.” (Name) thought aloud.

“Junkrat, let (Name) focus on more pressing matters first.” Morrison said as (Name) noted down what Jamison wanted despite of what Jack said.

“If you guys need anything done around here that needs my attention, there are small, disk-shaped robots that’re all around the place. You can tap them and say what’s needed, and it’ll be delivered to me. You could also use that to contact me and find out where I am if you need me directly.”

“That’s useful. If only we had something like that when we need Jack.” Ana dragged the soldier, who gave her a look from his peripherals. (Name) found it amusing, but didn’t smile or chuckle. He continued eating his dinner, hoping that they’d get the note that he only wants to eat.

“We should start wrapping this up. Some of us gotta be in the skies early tomorrow.” Jack said, grabbing his finished plate and walking out of the room. Some followed in suit, others cleaning up the table and darting away.

(Name) was still eating while the room cleared up, being the last in the room. He enjoyed eating in silence, working on his phone and checking to see the status of Athena. The room’s lights dimmed on their own to preserve power, leaving (Name) in the darkness while he finished. Even after he finished eating, he still didn’t leave the room, supporting his head by his palm pressed into his forehead elbow propped up by the elbow. He used his right hand to type and go through his robot’s cameras to look around the headquarters, blinking several times after he forgot he was doing. He rubbed his eye with a knuckle, closing his eyes for a moment. ‘Resting his eyes’ as he would call it when his sister would call him out on it. Smiling at remembering Hibiscus, he thought at how much he missed her, eyes opening back up as he stared into the darkness, missing more than just her. He tried to remember what the chairs at his office in the Vault felt like, not able to recall the sensation.

He felt something touch his shoulder, though, and startled him back into existence. He looked over his shoulder to see a metal, silver hand, a stray wire poking out betwixt two metal plates. Turning around and pulling the hand off his shoulder, he looked at the wire coming out of the metal plates, after he twisted himself in an odd position to analyze it. He was quiet, not noticing Jesse’s breath hitch in his throat, who was surprised by the entire thing.

“Everything alright?” Jesse asked.

“Come.” He said, practically dragging the gunslinger to his workshop.

“Now wait a minute.” Jesse drawled out in his Southern American accent, but it was ignored, and he was forced into the dark room. Snapping his fingers twice in quick succession, the room light turned on. McCree groaned at the sudden bright light, seeing the technology scattered around on the white tables everywhere.

“Sit.” He commanded, forcing him into the seat near a surprisingly clean table surface. “Let me repair that arm of yours. Despite me being here for two days, I can tell the haphazardous repair jobs that you’ve learned to hide from your friends. But I, who’s trained to spot flaws in robotics, can clearly tell that there’s something amiss.”

“Guess I can’t hide anything from you.” Jesse grinned, (Name) not showing any amusement as he pulled out the loupe from the drawer of the desk near Jesse. Strapping it to his right eye, he adjusted the magnification so he could investigate the stray wire. “Tough crowd.”

“How long has your arm been stiffening up?” He asked.

“How do you know about that?” Jesse answered with another question.

“I can tell from how these wires are totally tangling into one another and caught up in each other. To fix it, I’d have to take this apart.” Jesse detached his metal prosthetic from his elbow, rubbing the healed amputation he had what felt like ages ago.

“You mind me hanging ‘round here while you work on my arm?”

“Of course not, McCree. It is one of your limbs. Tell me if it gets to cold in here, I got a pullover sweater somewhere in here you could wear if it you need it.” (Name) mentioned, sitting in a chair with wheels and wheeling over to some point in the room so (Name) could gather his tools.

“Thanks. For both the offer, and for the help.” McCree said.

“It’s nothing. We’re gonna have to work together from here on out. If I even want to think about joining your forces, I need to be compliant and hopeful, McCree.” (Name) said while he started to remove a loose metal plate, eyes bulging out of his head at the handiwork of the messy labyrinth of wires.

“Jesse.”

“Gesundheit.” (Name) said while he repositioned a wire.

“I’m not sneezin’.” He rumbled out a chuckle, “Jesse. You can call me Jesse.”

“Oh.” He scratched his knuckles, “Jesse, huh? The most Southern name I’ve heard. It’s cute, though.” (Name) said. “I have no room to talk crap on names though— my name was supposed to be Ethereal, my mum wanted that. Luckily my pop stopped her.” He had a small, hidden smile.

“Ethereal Creed Urban (middle name) (Last Name), now that’s a mouthful.” Cue another amuses chuckle from (Name).

“Yeah. Imagine writing that mess on school assignments.” He shook his head, pulling over an overhead light and flicking it on, repositioning it several times.

“So, you like doing this type of stuff? Repair.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty fun and enjoyable to me.”

“Cool.” Jesse was running out of things to talk about.

“What about you? You like working for Overwatch?”

“Yeah. It’s got its up and downs. For the most part, though, I really enjoy helping everyone.” Jesse took off his hat and tousled his hair.

“That’s everything out in the world, though. I don’t think there’s anything out there that someone supports and agrees with 100% without any thought or problem. There’s always something fucking something else up. Sure, I’m a dedicated robotics and engineer, but there are some parts of my job that I don’t like, like having shit explode in my face.”

“That’s true. Huh, never really thought of it like that. Yeah, I know things don’t always work out how you want it to, but there’s so much more to it.”

“Yeah— fucker sucker.” (Name) growled, pulling his hand away and rubbing his new injury.

“You alright?” Jesse asked in an concerned tone.

“Yeah, cut my finger on a sharp corner of metal, it’s nothing.” A BEASTY with a small arm dropped a bandage on the table near him, “just need a plaster.”

“You mean a Band-Aid?” Jesse asked.

“Plaster, Band-Aid— it’s all the same shit.” He said as he ripped open the packaging and wrapped the bandage around his finger.

“Who calls it a plaster? That’s just idiotic.”

“So is neglecting your equipment until it barely functions on a normal level.” Jesse grumbled out a ‘shut up’.


End file.
